Uber and Waymo will expand the scope of their existing partnership to make the Waymo Driver, the Alphabet subsidiary’s autonomous robotaxi, accessible through Uber’s mobile app. Building on their work in Phoenix, Arizona, the companies will now bring their collaborative robotaxi-hailing service to Austin, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia.
Beginning in early 2025, Uber will enable its customers in these cities to hail the Waymo Driver exclusively through its app (and not through Waymo’s own Waymo One mobile app). Within these operations, Uber will manage and dispatch a fleet of Waymo’s fully autonomous, all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles that it plans to scale up over time. When it rolls out, customers using the Uber app to request an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort, or Uber Comfort Electric ride may be matched with a Waymo robotaxi for qualifying trips.
Within the expanded partnership, Uber will provide fleet management services including vehicle cleaning, repair, and other general depot operations, while Waymo will continue to be responsible for the supply, testing and operations of the Waymo Driver, as well as roadside assistance and customer service. Together, the companies will share the costs and revenue produced by their joint robotaxi service, although neither confirmed how this revenue would be split between them.
While bringing its AVs to Uber’s ride-hailing network in 2025, Waymo is already offering fully autonomous rides to its employees in Austin. In the coming weeks, the company will roll out its Waymo One robotaxi service to a limited number of ‘early rider’ customers in the city, using its proprietary Waymo One app for this pilot before fully transitioning to the Uber app. In Atlanta, Waymo and Uber will begin welcoming public riders in early 2025, through Uber’s app, and gradually expand the scope of these operations throughout the year.
The announcement of Waymo and Uber’s expanded partnership follows Uber’s own robotaxi-focused partnership with GM. From early 2025, GM will similarly allow the autonomous vehicles developed by its Cruise subsidiary (a fleet of Chevy Bolts equipped with Cruise’s autonomous technology) to be hailed using Uber’s mobile app. The scope and scale of this partnership has yet to be confirmed.
Through their collaboration, Waymo and Uber are aiming to drive safety, reliability, and convenience while helping more customers in more cities understand the benefits of Waymo’s fully autonomous vehicles.
